Archive for the ‘verbal and non-verbal autistic children’ Category

Looking into Autism communication and what it means for your child on the spectrum

All children with autism will have communication difficulties with both verbal and non-verbal communication this is a common symptom of autism.

Did you realize that up to 50 percent of children with autism may never develop speech! And that many others will only develop early communication skills.

Research shows us that autistic children rarely engage in effective communication.

Looking at communication….

When we think of speech – language we refer to the body of words, the formations of sounds, as well as the structures and forms used to construct speech.

Communication on the other hand can occur either verbally through speech or non-verbally through the use of spoken words, gestures, signs, or by pointing to printed words or symbols.

To communicate effectively, we must firstly be able to understand why we need to communicate with others, have the desire to communicate, have somebody to communicate with, have something to communicate about, and have a means of expressing ourselves.

With typically developing children we will no doubt notice them go through some stages of communication. For example as a typically developing child grows he/she will begin to explore his/her environment and start to understand the cause and effect around them.

For example when they are thirsty they can point to the fridge or a cup…When they are wanting a cuddle or are tired they may raise both hands to picked up.

However this is not the case with a child on the spectrum. So taking a closer look into autism communication, a child with autism spectrum is rarely inquisitive, and typically will show a lack of interest in their surroundings.

A child with autism spectrum will also lack effective eye contact which will make learning communication very difficult.

By the time a non-verbal autistic child starts school, they may already have seen a speech therapist to establish a program to aid with the development of effective communication.

The speech therapist will need to determine some appropriate objectives and goals, a base level of communication will be established by carefully observing the child within the school setting.

In certain cases it may be necessary for the child on the spectrum to learn a new form of communication. For example the child may cry or scream when they need something and this is their form of communication. But this is not going to be effective in a classroom full of children. Consequently, a new form of communication will need to be established.

Research shows us that the vast majority of both verbal and non-verbal autistic children are visual thinkers and learners, and will respond better to visual communication and information.

Consequently, visual intervention strategies should be introduced, such as visual support cards, PECS, flash cards and social skills stories. These visual intervention strategies can be used as a form of autism communication with verbal and non-verbal autistic children.

Autism social stories are short but descriptive pieces of text with appropriate pictures and images to support the story – or instruction. So for example if the new skill is to help the autistic child understand the need for quiet reading at school, the appropriate autism social story would be selected and implemented.

The autism social skillsstory can be used as a role model and visual step by step plan. Using images or pictures the autism social skills story will show the reason why the children are expected to be silent, who is expecting them to be silent and why, as well as the consequence of not being quiet and the consequent or reward for being quiet.

In other words the a social story gives the answers to the important “wh” questions – who, where, why, when and what as well as “HOW” and will also give the child with autism an insight into the thoughts and feelings of others, which is a marked area of difficulty in most children with autism spectrum.

Autistic children tend to be visual learners, which is why studies have shown that autism social stories are an excellent aid in developing good foundations for behavior and social skills for autistic children and adults.

Social skills stories are considered an excellent tool for helping develop communication skills in children with autism spectrum.

A good source of this excellent tool for helping develop communication skills in children with autism spectrum can be found at: